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News In Brief, Day 2

FedEx Express has taken delivery of its 16th Boeing 767-300 Freighter, marking the handover of the 100th production cargo version of the 767-300ER since it entered service with UPS in 1995. The milestone aircraft enters service around 20 months after the first was delivered to FedEx in September 2013. The carrier, which is using the 767 to replace its outgoing fleet of MD-10s, has a total of 53 on order, having added additional aircraft to the orderbook in October 2014.

Saudi Arabia to Produce Antonov Transports

Saudi Arabia plans to set up local production of Antonov transport planes. The Ukrainian manufacturer announced the agreement signed in early May with Taqnia Aeronautics, a subsidiary of Saudi’s Taqnia investment fund, for the design and manufacture of An-132 light transport aircraft. It will be a modernized version of the Antonov An-32 with improved payload, range and takeoff performance. The design stage will be a joint effort between Antonov, Taqnia Aeronautics and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). The final configuration of the new aircraft has not yet been established.

​Finmeccanica-Selex ES (Hall 2a, Stand D308) and Saab have successfully deployed a BriteCloud expendable active decoy from a Gripen fighter. Three flights and three releases of the BriteCloud were conducted in Sweden. The tests demonstrated the safe and effective release of the BriteCloud EAD from a standard Gripen countermeasures dispenser. BriteCloud is a self-contained digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammer that is designed to protect fighter jets from complex threats such as RF-guided missiles and fire-control radars. Saab will be the first to offer BriteCloud as an electronic warfare enhancement option on all Gripen aircraft.

The Slovakian government will order UH-60M Black Hawks as part of a modernization of the country’s armed forces. Nine helicopters will be ordered through a foreign military sales order from the U.S. Army. The US$261 million deal will help the Slovaks replace the Mil Mi-17 helicopters currently in operation. As well as military operations, the new Black Hawks will be used for domestic crisis management, extinguishing forest fires, providing assistance during floods, or helping to look for missing persons, defense officials have said.

Airbus has selected Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD), the aerospace manufacturing division of the Korean Air Group, to supply new Sharklet wingtip devices including a wingspan extension for the A330neo. Under the terms of the agreement, KAL-ASD will manufacture the composite Sharklets at its Busan, South Korea, facility and supply them to the A330 family final assembly line in Toulouse. Inspired by the curved wingtips on the A350XWB, the A330neo’s devices will increase overall wingspan from the 60.3 meters of today’s A330ceo to 64 meters while providing increased lift with reduced drag.

GKN Wins Contract for F-100 Engine

GKN Aerospace Chem-tronics has been selected by Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to supply 147 turbine nozzle support structures for the Pratt & Whitney F-100 series engines that power USAFF-15 and F-16 aircraft. This contract is valued at approaching US$10 million. These titanium alloy structures support the aft nozzle exit section in the rear of all F-100 powerplants. Manufacturing will take place at the company’s El Cajon, California, facility, with deliveries commencing in 2015 and completed by December 2017. GKN is at Chalet 73 and Hall 2b, Stand H174.

Navy Tests Electromagnetic Catapult

The first shipboard, full-speed electromagnetic catapult shots have been conducted on the U.S. Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, CVN 78 Gerald R. Ford. The 22 test shots – known as “no-loads” because no aircraft or other loads were attached to the launching shuttle – demonstrated the integrated Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, which is designed to launch current and future carrier aircraft. The system provides substantial improvements in maintenance, reliability and efficiency, higher launch energy capacity and more accurate end-speed control, with smoother acceleration at high and low speeds. CVN 78 is scheduled to be commissioned in March 2016.

ClearVision EFVS to Indicate Ash Hazards

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Elbit Systems (Chalet 200, Static A8) has teamed with Nicarnica Aviation to offer volcanic ash detection capabilities as part of Elbit’s ClearVision enhanced flight vision system (EFVS) for business jets. Implemented within the ClearVision system and multi-spectral sensor, the detector developed by Nicarnica will enable pilots to avoid flying into ash-contaminated areas while maintaining safe operation in areas influenced by volcanic eruptions. The joint project was recently approved for funding by Eurostars, the Norwegian Research Council and the Israeli chief scientist.

Third Falcon 8X Joins Test Program

The third and final Falcon 8X test aircraft made its first flight from Dassault’s Bordeaux- Mérignac facility on May 11. Next month, it will be ferried to the Falcon completion facility in Little Rock, Arkansas, where it will be fitted out with a full cabin and tested for cabin comfort and sound levels. The three 8X test aircraft had completed 50 sorties by mid-May. The full program will total some 200 flights and 500 flight hours leading to EASA and FAA certification, which is expected in mid- 2016. Dassault is at Concorde 26 and Chalet 193.

New Telson System Is NATO Battle-Proven

TDA, a subsidiary of Thales (Chalet 263, Static B1 and Concorde, Stand 39), is exhibiting its new Telson induction rocket system here. This second-generation system delivers deep protection and attack solutions for all platform types, and to the highest NATO standards. Offering “unprecedented levels of safety and eliminating the risk of foreign object damage, our induction rocket systems are impossible to repurpose as IEDs.”

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